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Wave packet. A looped animation of a wave packet propagating without dispersion: the envelope is maintained even as the phase changes. In physics, a wave packet (also known as a wave train or wave group) is a short burst of localized wave action that travels as a unit, outlined by an envelope. A wave packet can be analyzed into, or can be ...
The concept that matter behaves like a wave was proposed by French physicist Louis de Broglie (/ d ə ˈ b r ɔɪ /) in 1924, and so matter waves are also known as de Broglie waves. The de Broglie wavelength is the wavelength , λ , associated with a particle with momentum p through the Planck constant , h : λ = h p . {\displaystyle \lambda ...
Free particle. In physics, a free particle is a particle that, in some sense, is not bound by an external force, or equivalently not in a region where its potential energy varies. In classical physics, this means the particle is present in a "field-free" space. In quantum mechanics, it means the particle is in a region of uniform potential ...
The group velocity is positive (i.e., the envelope of the wave moves rightward), while the phase velocity is negative (i.e., the peaks and troughs move leftward). The group velocity of a wave is the velocity with which the overall envelope shape of the wave's amplitudes —known as the modulation or envelope of the wave—propagates through space.
Wave. Surface waves in water showing water ripples. In physics, mathematics, engineering, and related fields, a wave is a propagating dynamic disturbance (change from equilibrium) of one or more quantities. Periodic waves oscillate repeatedly about an equilibrium (resting) value at some frequency. When the entire waveform moves in one direction ...
Soliton. In mathematics and physics, a soliton is a nonlinear, self-reinforcing, localized wave packet that is strongly stable, in that it preserves its shape while propagating freely, at constant velocity, and recovers it even after collisions with other such localized wave packets. Its remarkable stability can be traced to a balanced ...
This wave packet becomes increasingly localized with the addition of many waves. The Fourier transform is a mathematical operation that separates a wave packet into its individual plane waves. The waves shown here are real for illustrative purposes only; in quantum mechanics the wave function is generally complex .
Localized wave packets, "bursts" of wave action where each wave packet travels as a unit, find application in many fields of physics. A wave packet has an envelope that describes the overall amplitude of the wave; within the envelope, the distance between adjacent peaks or troughs is sometimes called a local wavelength.